


Russian Winter Nights

by Moreena



Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: Feelings Realization, Fluff, Injury, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, OT5, Post-Canon, Secrets, Sexual Tension, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-23
Updated: 2017-09-23
Packaged: 2019-01-04 14:59:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12171183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moreena/pseuds/Moreena
Summary: A slightly bungled mission has its after perks in a state of the art safe house.  When you're forced to lay low for a week, tensions build and secrets come out, changing their lives and opening up new possibilities.





	Russian Winter Nights

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SoftNocturne](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SoftNocturne/gifts).



> SoftNocturne asked for an OT5 bedsharing a WHILE ago. I promised I'd write it, and here it is. Ignore the random angst towards the end, I don't know why. If there's enough want for it, I could be tempted to write a sequel of a sort!

Snow was cold and hard to trudge through, especially when trying to drag an injured teammate through it. But, they had to do it. Quatre was in the middle of their group, leaning heavily on Duo as they tried to shuffle through the snow. Trowa was leading with his rifle at the ready, with Wufei shuffling along beside Duo and Quatre, as extra protection. Heero brought up the rear, his own rifle ready to fire at a moment’s notice in one hand, and a large pine bough in his hand, sweeping back and forth across the snow as he walked backwards, effectively covering their tracks. The swiftly falling new snow would hide the evidence of cover up within an hour or two as well.

 

If there was one thing the former pilots hated, it was being misinformed about a mission. And, they’d been grossly misled. Why Une had wanted all five of them for a simple recon of something, they’d never figured out. Recon had turned into get in, get files, and get out. That was the last transmission they’d gotten. A hastily thrown together plan that none of them really liked, but it was really their only option. Quatre would approach, pretending to be a drunk from the nearby city who’d gotten lost in the woods. While the perimeter guards were distracted dealing with Quatre, Trowa and Heero would infiltrate and get the needed information. Duo would set off a minor explosion in the woods to draw most of the forces out, and Wufei would slip in and free Quatre. Then they’d all meet up about a mile out, and head for the safehouse as a group.

 

When the Gundam pilots were involved though, things were never as cut and dry as they planned for them to be. The only thing they hadn’t counted on was an utter bastard getting his hands on Quatre, alone and in a cell. Quatre had played up the drunkard very well, enough that Duo and Trowa would’ve been impressed with his acting skills. He stumbled, slurred his words, in broken, poorly accented Russian. The guard yelled at him and knocked him across the face, making him fall into the snow. Like a good drunk, Quatre met the snow, his cheek smarting. He remained where he was, until the guard hauled him up by the back of his jacket, and half-dragged, half-walked him inside and out of view of Duo and Wufei.

 

Trowa and Heero snuck in with no problems, though the security cameras gave them pause. They could see Quatre in a cell, his outerwear tossed into a corner. He was sitting in a chair, and they could see his mouth moving, spilling out quick Russian. Trowa could translate every few words, and it was just ‘drunken’ ramblings. The thing that had them moving quickly was when the guard obviously didn’t like his answer. His leg shot out, kicking Quatre right on the left side of his chest. The blonde pilot fell out of the chair like a sack of bricks, hitting the cement floor, clutching his side with a scream of anguish.

 

“04 compromised. Get that distraction now 02. 05, get him out,” Trowa demanded over the comms.

 

There was an affirmative, and they waited in the control room, data in hand, forced to watch the scene unfolding before them on screen, as the guard followed Quatre to the floor, kicking him again in almost the same spot. They needed Duo’s distraction to get out. It was a handful of minutes later when they heard the explosion, and felt the ground shake with the shockwave of the after blast. They were gone like shots fired from a gun. Wufei had already started his way inside before Duo set off the bomb, having sensed the urgency in Trowa’s voice. With the tracker implanted in Quatre’s jacket, it was easy enough to find the room he was in. It was quiet from behind the door for a moment. Then there was a single scream that ended abruptly. Wufei pushed open the door, pistol aimed and ready to fire. He didn’t expect to see Quatre kneeling on the floor, the guard’s head twisted almost all the way around on his neck.

 

“Hi Fei,” Quatre managed to say, his voice a bit strained as he tried to breathe around his injuries.

 

“I was supposed to rescue you, you know,” Wufei said sternly, grabbing Quatre’s outerwear, helping him back into it, afraid of what would happen out in the Russian wilderness if he didn’t bundle the other man up.

 

“I’m not some princess in a tower that needs saving you know,” Quatre reminded him pointedly.

 

Quatre was right of course. The four of them treated the blonde like spun glass sometimes. That cheerful disposition of his just screamed ‘protect me from the evils of the world’. They’d all admit that sometimes they forgot he was a former pilot who’d been through two wars. Who’d killed in the name of peace. He wasn’t a full time Preventer like the rest of them, but he’d do what was necessary, and in this case, killing a man to save his own life.

 

“Sorry, we princes tend to forget that fact,” Wufei teased a little, zipping Quatre’s jacket up to his chin and securing the goggles and hood onto the blonde.

 

“You guys are forgiven. Just get me out of here,” Quatre admitted.

 

With a solemn nod, Wufei adjusted his own gear and they headed out, the guard’s stolen gun in Wufei’s capable hands. They’d just cleared the tree line across from the facility when a second explosion rang out, this one set near the vehicle parking lot. Wufei and Quatre shared a weary smile. That was Duo, going above and beyond what they needed.

 

“Smart move taking out vehicles. Now they can’t get around as quick. Buys us more escape time,” Wufei offered, still using a sense of urgency as he and Quatre headed deeper into the woods, away from the facility.

 

Rounding up on a small grouping of trees, there was a distinct snapping sound, and both pilots turned towards it, Quatre reaching down into the pocket of his tactical pants to draw out a small knife. It wouldn’t do anything against a gun, but if the person wasn’t armed then close quarters was alright. They both held still, barely breathing until Duo stuck his head out from around one of the trees, letting out a relieved sigh when he saw who it was. All three lowered their weapons upon realization that the threat wasn’t an enemy. 

 

“You guys are the last ones. Heero was getting anxious. He wants to get moving,” Duo eventually said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder at the others who peeked their heads out too.

 

With more nodding, Wufei and Quatre continued up into the trees to join the rest of them. Heero was quick to get them into a single file order, the rest of them simply falling in. It was usually Quatre who led them, but Heero was just as good. Honestly, Quatre didn’t know if his brain could focus on reality past the pain to issue orders. They set off, Quatre setting the pace despite being in the middle of the pack. They marched in silence, only Quatre’s heavier breathing breaking up the noise. Heero was constantly alert for sounds of pursuit, even as he took careful sweeps of the ground to cover their tracks. All they’d find were footprints to that copse of trees, then nothing. It was like they were ghosts.

 

“Hold up Trowa. Just, stop,” Wufei called out, his voice sounding exasperated.

 

They were three quarters of the way to the safe house, but it was obvious to them all that Quatre was tiring. His steps were sluggish, and he was dragging. They all closed in, Trowa and Heero never wavering from lookout mode.

 

“Duo take this,” Wufei ordered, handing over his rifle which Duo took without question. “Hop on Quatre,” he continued, kneeling in the snow for Quatre to climb onto his back.

 

“I’ll be fine. You don’t have to do this,” Quatre protested with a wavering voice and a shake of his head.

 

“Quatre, don’t fight him. Just let him help. We need to get inside, and we’ve slowed down considerably,” Trowa piped up, fixing the blonde with a hard look.

 

Quatre met that glare with his own, and an uncomfortable silence rose around all of them. While none of them were technically in a relationship, Quatre and Trowa were close. If any of them were to become a couple, it would be them. They kept glaring at one another in a contest of wills. Strong and stoic on one side, and unwavering stubborn determination on the other. However, Quatre caved in; for probably one of a handful of times so far in his life. He knew when he was beat. With a grumbling sigh, Quatre wrapped his arms around Wufei’s neck, and hopped onto his back. Wufei’s arms locked around his legs to hold him steady as he rose to his feet. Thankfully the snow wasn’t deep enough to hinder Wufei with the extra weight on him, though he did sink a bit more than before. While his jacket protected him, he could feel the slight pressure from his chest pressed to his friend’s back.

 

“Thanks Fei,” Quatre muttered into the hood of the jacket, clinging just a bit tighter to convey how much he actually did appreciate the break from walking.

 

“No problem. The sooner we get to safety, the better off we all are,” Wufei replied as he rucked Quatre up on his back a bit more to make sure he was settled, hoping the blonde caught that this wasn’t an inconvenience from the tone of his voice.

 

Unspoken silence reigned again, save for the crunching of snow underfoot, and that musical tinkling that freshly falling snow seemed to carry with it. They trudged onward, and eventually came upon a small grouping of trees, with a small building behind it. It was short and fairly square looking, with a sturdy roof. A cabin more than anything else. They clumped up the porch, Heero stamping snow off his boots with heavy thumps of his feet before he slipped inside to clear the cabin, the rest of them huddled together on the porch, still watching for pursuit and keeping an ear on Heero.

 

That familiar mop of dark brown hair appeared again, the rifle slung on his back as Heero pulled the door wider. “All clear. Let’s get inside.”

 

It was both impressive and a bit depressing. Technically it had four rooms, but three of those rooms were about as big as closets. The kitchen was small and narrow, with a sink, a small fridge, stove, and a few cabinets stocked with essentials that would last. The back half of the cabin was divided into two rooms. A bathroom on one side, with a shower and a toilet, and a small cabinet for linens. The other room was the fun room, filled with a wall of screens on one side, and the opposing wall was situated with a smorgasbord of weaponry. Different automatic weapons, including a sniper rifle and handguns, ammunition for every weapon on the wall. There were even several types of grenades, including explosive, flash, and incendiary. 

 

The largest room was the main living area. There was a large stone fireplace, and table with chairs close to the kitchen, and an over-sized reading chair pushed against the opposite wall from the table. Pushed up against the wall that backed the screens was a huge king-sized bed. Wufei crouched a bit and Quatre slid off his back, moving to close and lock the deadbolt on the door.

 

“What kind of safehouse is this?” Duo asked as he shed his jacket, violet eyes wide as he took everything in.

 

“Hunter’s cabin,” Quatre replied without skipping a beat, moving to a panel on the wall right next to the door. “Hold onto you hats kids,” he purred, ripping one of his gloves off and pushing a few buttons.

 

Before any of them could react, there were audible noises, like metal moving. The others could only watch as the ambient light from outside slowly started to shrink as thick metal slid down over the windows and the main door. It all clicked into place, and Quatre flipped the light on, grinning like a maniac.

 

“What the fuck?” Trowa asked, staring at the blonde like he’d grown a second head.

 

Now, Quatre looked delighted to have actually shocked the rest of them. “Best locale Preventers can provide, fixed up with a bunch of WEI money. Completely safe until we want to leave. Metal shutters which are about as close to indestructible as we can get without Gundanium. Security perimeters 100 and 50 yards out. Motion sense, pressure sensors to distinguish between human and animals. We’re secure, alone, and stocked with enough food to wait out the week until extraction.”

 

“A full week? Where the hell are we gonna sleep Q? Like, you couldn’t have provided more beds?” Duo chirped, incredulous at the situation.

 

“Well, this house wasn’t expected to hold five guys. This is more a house for one or two agents,” Wufei interjected, saving Quatre from having to speak.

 

“Une is the one who sent the five of us. Blame her,” Heero replied, shrugging out of his jacket. “Duo, gather up the outer wear and get it drying. Trowa, get a fire going, and Wufei make something to eat.” Heero ordered before he rounded on Quatre. “Strip. I need to look at your chest.”

 

They all scrambled to comply, Quatre handing his jacket to Duo before moving towards the bed to get out of the way of the other pilots while they worked on their tasks. He sat on the edge of the bed and shrugged out of the thick sweater he’d been wearing, then the thermal shirt and tank top, leaving his upper body naked in the chill of the room. Heero was polite enough to not comment on how his nipples hardened, or the thick layer of goosebumps that covered the blonde from arm to chest and down to his navel.

 

Heero knelt on the floor, carefully pushing Quatre’s legs apart so he could be closer. Ever the consummate professional, Heero was singled-minded, focused on the ugly bruising on Quatre’s chest. It was mottled, and still forming. It would only get nastier in the coming days.

 

“This is going to hurt,” Heero warned mere seconds before his fingers began to prod at the location.

 

Quatre hissed like an angry cat, body automatically cringing back from the pain. “Fuck!”

 

The others ignored the noises, though Trowa looked over longer than he needed to, ensuring himself that Quatre was alright, and just uncomfortable.

 

“Hold still, or I’ll get one of the others to hold you down,” Heero barked out, fixing Quatre with a hard stare.

 

Sucking in a breath and nodding, his fingers fisted into the blanket underneath him and he attempted to hold still as Heero started to poke around again. Quatre hissed and swore, but held himself as still as possible, while Heero worked. He felt around the front, from his clavicle down to the bottom of the ribcage, then along the sides.

 

“Fractured, but I don’t think you’ve got anything punctured,” Heero assessed.

 

Duo came up to them, lugging a modest black chest. “First aid kit hiding out in that back room,” he offered before dropping down to sit next to Quatre. “Doctor being rough on you?”

 

“Not yet,” Quatre admitted, letting out a shaky breath.

 

The kit was stocked with all the normal things that someone would need, and some more advanced things. Heero dug around and came out with a stethoscope which he put into his ears, then onto Quatre’s chest. Without prompting, Quatre took inhalations as deep as he could manage while Heero listened in different spots. He eventually withdrew and dropped the stethoscope back into the kit and rummaged around some more.

 

Tossing a bottle of aspirin to Quatre, he closed the kit up and secured it. “Nothing’s punctured from what I can tell. We’ll keep an eye on it. Aspirin is all we have so just take it as needed. And take it easy. Rest.”

 

Before Quatre could reply, Heero stood up and took the kit away, setting it by the kitchen door, just in case they needed it again. Grabbing his clothes, he struggled to even get his tank top back on, the pain hindering his movements. He let out a frustrated noise and smacked his fist against the bed. Then there were hands helping him, tugging the shirt up and over his head for him. Duo flashed him one of his trademark grins and reached for the thermal shirt too, helping Quatre into that one as well. Dressed, Quatre realized how tired he was from everything and slid along the bed to lay down, letting his eyes close. Duo watched him for a few long moments before he grabbed the extra blanket off the foot of the bed and threw it over the blonde before shuffling off to try and help Wufei and Trowa in the kitchen.

 

It was a long night for all of them. They hadn’t been this crammed into a single space in a long time, and old habits from war days still existed, and sometimes still rubbed them the wrong way. Duo could still be loud and abrasive, even at 21. With the inability to shut his mouth when he got on someone’s nerves to an extreme level. Usually it was Wufei who wound up being needled by Duo, until he exploded in a fit of rage, and Duo tried to play the victim. Heero and Trowa stayed preternaturally silent, hiding by themselves. Heero usually glowered at everything, and Trowa withdrew. Quatre would try to play peacemaker and get everyone on the same page, which would spark an entirely new round of discourse.

 

Tonight was different though. Heero had settled himself in front of the monitors, eyes darting from screen to screen like he was piloting a mobile suit. He was watching for pursuit despite Quatre’s assurances that they had two perimeters and a complete 360 view of the area around the cabin. Wufei shared in Heero’s paranoia and had lodged himself near the front door and window, his rifle resting against the wall next to him. The metal in front of the windows made it impossible to see outside, but he kept his post, despite Trowa telling him it was futile. Really, all five of them could be so stubborn at times.

 

Despite there being one bed, the remaining two of them were tired enough to climb in and sleep. They’d left the fire burning to provide warmth and light, and they’d crawled under the blankets. The bed was cold at first, but warmed quickly with their body heat. Duo sprawled on his back like a starfish and took over half the bed, forcing Quatre and Trowa to sleep practically on top of one another. Quatre had been all set to sleep on his back as well, but Trowa had shaken his head and forced the blonde onto his left side, ignoring the pained whimpers the blonde directed at him after rousing him from sleep.

 

“It will force you to breathe deeper. We have to worry about pneumonia, or your lung collapsing,” Trowa offered in lieu of an apology, scooting himself closer to the blonde, spooning him to offer extra body heat.

 

Quatre took the extra heat gratefully and sighed into his pillow, feeling Trowa curl a protective arm over his hip, finding it easy to fall asleep with his friends guarding his back.

-

The sleeping trio awoke to breakfast being wafted under their noses courtesy of Heero and Wufei. They were kicked out of bed for the other two boys to allow the pair of them to catch a couple hours of sleep. Quatre curled himself up in the arm chair by the shuttered window with a book on his lap while Trowa and Duo added more wood to the fire then settled on the floor in front of it to play cards. Every now and then, Quatre would haul himself from the chair and move into the other room to check the security feeds, still satisfied that they were secure.

 

When Heero and Wufei woke, they agreed that obsessively watching the screens wasn’t going to do them any good. If pursuit hadn’t arrived by now to investigate, then it never was. Now it was just to figure out how to entertain themselves for an entire week. Thankfully the cabin was stocked with some books and games, and there was always the chance to catch up on sleep.

 

With any group confined into a small space, tensions bubbled. Some of it was anger, and some of it was sexual. Quatre wanted to take a shower and knew he’d have a hard time trying to keep his arms above his head to wash his hair. Trowa volunteered to help, ignoring the knowing stares from their fellow pilots. When the sounds of carnal pleasure echoed from the small bathroom, the rest of them weren’t surprised in the slightest. When the pair came slinking out of the bathroom with their faces flushed, the rest of them didn’t tease Trowa and Quatre too much. 

 

It was the side-long looks that pushed Quatre to the breaking point. He and Trowa had always been close, yes. And, them indulging in sexual pleasure together wasn’t anything new. A steady relationship just wasn’t in the cards right now, and both of them were perfectly content with that. While the five of them were trying to stay busy with all of the downtime currently presented, Quatre kept feeling eyes on him while he sat in the chair, staring at the blank metal of the shutter over the window. With a slight turn of the head, he caught Wufei looking at him, the other man’s gaze immediately darting back to his own book the moment he and Quatre locked eyes.

 

The second time it was Heero, with a concerned look on his face, probably worrying about whatever they’d done and how it would affect his ribs and healing. Quatre fixed Heero with his board room glare in a contest of wills. Heero turned away first, and Quatre preened a little at the victory. It wasn’t even five minutes later and he felt eyes on him again. This time it was Duo, and he didn’t break eye contact, even under the board room glare. Duo had this quirky little smirk on his lips, like he was picturing what Trowa and Quatre had looked like in the shower. 

 

It was probably easy enough for Duo to imagine it. War was a thing that ate away at morality and decency. You got over things that had given you pause in the past. Bathing together, patching up each other’s wounds. You saw your comrades naked just as often as you fought in battles. Duo had patched him up a time or two. Hell, they’d all seen one another naked either during the war, or after. Decontamination showers were a fun team building exercise.

 

“Trowa is the only one not looking at me like I’ve just sprouted a second head. What the hell is wrong with the rest of you?” Quatre asked, breaking the terse silence that had built up. For emphasis, he slammed his book shut and threw it onto the floor.

 

Trowa gave a twitch of his face, turning away for the kitchen, knowing things were coming to a head and that Quatre was going to let them have it. They’d talked about this when they were alone, and they’d agreed it could happen. A little bit of ‘greasing the wheel’ with the help of Une had gotten them here, and Quatre was… Well he had too much information for them to deny.

 

“We’re just trying to figure out how you and uni-bang managed to hook up without us ever realizing,” Duo jested, dropping his cards to the floor, ending the game with Heero.

 

“War was war. We took what respite we could get.” Was all he offered in a way of explanation.

 

“Still, none of us managed to notice, and we’re some of the most observant people,” Wufei mused, carefully slipping a piece of paper to mark his page before he closed his book.

 

Quatre felt a muscle in his eye begin to twitch. They’d always been closer than normal soldiers, and because he had a reputation of being the competent listener, and the gentle soul, he’d heard many secrets from his fellow pilots. They’d commiserated in the dark in hushed voices about desires and things they’d done. Things they wanted to do again, and their hopes for the future. Quatre had filed away everything important to save for a rainy day, when the future needed it. He was tired of the constant sexual tension that seemed to have built up over years and countless time spent together. It wasn’t just himself and Trowa that had it either. No, Quatre had always been fascinated by the other pilots, just like he knew some of them shared the same urges about the others.

 

“You’re really not observant. Considering how much you all want one another. You figured that sleeping with one another once or twice during war was enough to assuage you of the desires. Guess what boys, it didn’t. You all still want one another, the love and affection runs so deeply in all of your veins that half of the things you do unconsciously are for one another, to protect or help make each other’s lives easier. You think Duo goes over to your apartment to feed your cat just because you’re away on a mission Wufei? He does it to be closer to you, so you know you can depend on him for more than a snarky joke,” Quatre rattled off, finding himself getting more and more worked up the longer he spoke. “Wufei challenges you because he loves the thrill of riling you up Heero. Duo intentionally lets his tech go to hell, just so he has an excuse to see you Heero, so you’ll fix it and he can watch you work on it. Trowa brings in baked goods because he wants to make sure you’re all fed, and he loves listening to stories from missions he doesn’t get to go on, and chews his nails down to nubs until you’ve been reported safe! There’s so many things I could go on about, but you’re all just too blind to realize it,” he finished with a snap, glaring at all of them, Trowa returning to stand in the doorway of the kitchen, a knowing smile on his face as he listened to Quatre’s tirade, though he noticed the blonde left out all of his own things from his rant.

 

There were shouts all around from Wufei, Heero, and Duo. They all tried to talk at once, trying to yell at Quatre for spilling their secrets, and at one another for never saying anything. It was chaos, and Quatre reveled in it, settling in his seat to watch, his eyes growing heavy. It was like someone who needed the noise of a bustling city to sleep properly. The noise was soothing in a way. His sudden nap went unnoticed by the other pilots all standing in a circle, arguing still. 

 

It was Trowa who broke it up. “Quatre didn’t say anything before now because he didn’t want to betray anyone’s confidences. We’ve all trusted him with things, and clearly, he’s never betrayed that trust, until now. He wanted us to know, so we could stop lying to ourselves.”

 

The other three looked sheepishly at one another, then over at the blonde who was oblivious to their stares. Now that everything was out in the open, what were they going to do?

 

“Sleep is a good idea. We can discuss this tomorrow, when we’ve all rested and can all participate in this rousing discussion,” Wufei offered, bending down to gather up the cards from the floor.

 

They worked in tandem, cleaning up, stoking the fire for the night, making sure that everything was secure before they all turned in. Trowa settled Quatre onto one side of the bed, and Heero took the chance to check on the blonde again, listening to his lungs and prodding at the bruising to ensure things were still alright, and they didn’t need an emergency extraction. Satisfied that Quatre was healing, Heero tucked the med kit away and climbed into the bed with the others. It took some work to arrange themselves without disturbing the blonde, but the four of them managed it, all squished together, their limbs intermingled. It was almost like a puppy pile, including nudging elbows and knees out of delicate areas.

-

When Quatre woke the next morning, he was greeted by a sight that warmed his heart. The four of his friends were all curled together, cozy in a large pile, sleeping peacefully. He’d talked over this whole situation with Trowa in depth, for what had felt like years. He knew Trowa held affection for him and enjoyed the times their bodies came together in pleasure, but he knew that the others also held a special place in Trowa’s heart. Places that Quatre couldn’t quite fill. Trowa had no idea if the others felt the same about Quatre, even though he knew each of the other three had slept with the blonde during the war. A sense of melancholy came over him as he continued to observe their sleeping faces, seeing them all wrapped up in one another, taking up a majority of the bed while he was left alone with a clear gap separating himself from them. 

 

It shouldn’t have surprised him that this was going to happen. It had always been a possibility in the darkest recesses of his mind that they’d group together once he’d dropped the bombshell that they all wanted one another. He’d make himself content with the scraps of affection he could earn from Trowa every now and then, when he had time. Pushing himself out of bed as carefully as he could manage, he headed for the bathroom and shut the door behind him. He flipped on the shower and let the water warm up, his mind running away from him in a way he hadn’t dealt with since the ZERO system. In a way, he was as alone as ever. Yes, he’d lost family just like the others, but he’d still had them around – even if they weren’t the most loving. He had so much more than the others, so he couldn’t begrudge them their happiness and that they seemed to have found. Stripping away his clothes, he stepped into the shower and let the water beat on his head, his hair falling into his face in thick wet clumps, using the sound of the water to muffle his soft sobs and the water itself to wash away the tears.

 

The others awoke in their own time, warm and still curled together in their little pile. Duo picked his head up from Wufei’s chest and looked over, eyebrows going up when he noticed the bed on the other side was empty. “Where’s Q?” He asked sleepily.

 

Heero sat up, carefully dislodging Wufei’s arm from his chest, alert and awake, his eyes darting around the room, seeing that the security shutters were still in place. Craning his neck as best he could, he saw that the bathroom door was shut. “Shower, probably,” he offered.

 

“Why? It’s not like he’s done anything that needs it. And Trowa’s not in there to wash his hair,” Wufei joked, stretching his body out with a low groan, as much as he could in the confined space between Duo and Heero.

 

Trowa was about to pipe up that Quatre was capable of taking care of himself; that they’d only done the joint shower as more of a show, to open the floodgates. He was interrupted by Quatre coming out fully dressed with a towel over his hair as he dried it. He gave them a smile that didn’t make it all the way to his eyes, and went to sit in his usual chair, pointedly not looking at them.

 

Trowa slid to the edge of the bed and headed for the vacated bathroom, calling out over his shoulder at the rest of them. “This is where those powers of observation you guys claim to have would come in really handy.”

 

Duo cocked an eyebrow, wondering what he was going on about. It was Wufei who moved, carefully climbing over Heero, hissing when his bare feet met with cold floor. He crossed the distance from the bed to the chair in a handful of steps, ignoring the crack of one of his knees as he settled on the floor at Quatre’s feet. Quatre turned his face further away, letting the towel drop to his neck. Wufei reached up, fingers cupping the blonde’s jaw like it was made of something far more delicate than glass. When he finally got Quatre to look at him, he could tell the blonde had been crying. His eyes were swollen and red-rimmed, and he looked broken and lost.

 

“Quatre, BǍOBÈI what’s wrong? Why were you crying?” Wufei asked, his voice gentle.

 

Quatre rubbed the heel of his hand against one of his eyes before he dropped it back into his lap, his entire body giving a shake as he sighed heavily. He knew quite a bit of Mandarin because of business, though he’d never heard that term in his conversations before. “I’m not a treasure,” he finally stammered out.

 

Wufei let out his own sigh, fingers keeping a firm grip on Quatre’s face. “Why do you think that?”

 

“You don’t need me. I’ve brought the four of you together, and that’s that. It was what I hoped to do,” Quatre stated, bringing a hand up to bat at Wufei’s touch, so he could break that hard stare, because it was unsettling.

 

Wufei looked back at Duo and Heero who only met his look with questioning ones of their own.

 

“What do you mean the four of us? Are you not involved with us too?”

 

“Not based on last night,” Quatre spat out, the jealously he’d sworn he’d keep under wraps bubbling to the surface now that he was being confronted. “It’s clear that you guys don’t need me, or want me.”

 

Heero took care of that without even moving from the bed. “We didn’t wake you last night. You fell asleep so deeply, we laid you out and you stayed that way. We didn’t want to wake you by putting you on your injured side, which would have either woken you, or caused you distress. And, we left a gap between to avoid injuring you with rolling or movement. Both sound technical decisions.”

 

It felt like he’d been kicked in the gut. All the air deflated out of him and he sagged back into his seat, closing his eyes, as if he could block everything out hard enough by not looking. He’d been so stupid. He’d just… Gone off assumption, and just let his emotions run away on him. He’d never even thought about his ribs, and that they’d left him out of the cuddling because they wanted him to sleep and not risk injuring him more. He’d been so stupid, he could’ve kicked himself.

 

“You know, you acted on your emotions, which is a good thing, according to this crazy guy I know,” Duo teased, curling himself closer to Heero so he could stare at the blonde a little easier. “He should know, he’s seen death several times, and come out the other side a better person for it.”

 

Quatre chuckled, and the three of them let out a relieved sigh. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong with me or why I reacted in such a way.”

 

“Emotions do that. That’s why communication is important, and difficult,” Wufei admitted with a smile, pushing himself off the floor with the help of Quatre’s chair. “Come back to bed. We all have things to discuss. You threw us for a curve ball last night,” he chastised.

 

He stood up and left the towel on the chair, moving around to the other side of the bed and crawling in beside Duo, Wufei following him and pulling the blankets up. The four of them were talking quietly when Trowa came back to join them, relieved that they’d at least figured out why the blonde had been upset, and had patched things up.

 

They’d all have a lot of things to work on. Boundaries to set, rules to establish. What they all wanted out of this kind of a relationship, because it was obvious from the casual touching they were doing just lying in bed that things would eventually escalate to a sexual level. Would they want to live together and do everything couples did, just as a collective? Have certain steady partners and occasionally indulge with the others when the desire came up? It would take work, and they’d stumble and fall, but together, they’d figure it out. If they could win wars, they could master this and every trial that went along with a relationship. 

 

With entwined limbs, hearts, and spirits, they’d forge their own path as they’d always done. Together.


End file.
